What if?
by TheLadyBath
Summary: What if Callen was not as alone as he thought he was? What if somebody came to his rescue when he needed it most? What if an old adversary still wanted revenge? Can The two teams work together to protect those most important to them? Takes place right after Spiral. Lily is from my NCIS Fiction - "Its Complicated,"In the Line of Duty" Also hurt/comfort to come. Please R and R.
1. Chapter 1

**The ending of "Spiral" got me thinking. This will be slightly off the canon, but hopefully not too much and the story will make it worth your time. I went in and rewrote this as really a first chapter to what hopefully will be a multi-chapter story. Also, I found some medical stuff that did not make much sense so I tweaked that too.**

Images and flashes of of memories replayed themselves in Callen's mind. They were brief, abbreviated snippets that alone did not seem to make sense, but together, they seemed to tell a story.

Callen remembered the vial being thrown on the floor and the isolation door closing leaving him inside. He remembered coughing and the blood on his hands. He remembered looking up and seeing people in isolation suits hovering over him. Then there is nothing for what seems like a long time. The next memory fragment was his partner Sam's face and then Hetty's. He heard voices, "We're losing him. I need more blood." Another face appeared in Callen's memory. It was his mother. She was leaning over him, looking at this face. But that was impossible, wasn't it? His mother had been dead for over thirty years. The most overwhelming memory was the insistent beeping that did not seem to go away. In fact the beeping was getting louder and louder. It finally occurred to Callen that the beeping was his heart monitor and the reason that it was so loud was because he was actually awake.

Callen let a groan escape his lips. He felt terrible. Every inch of his body hurt and he was so weak, it took all his focus to just open his eyes. But he forced his eyes to open and saw the familiar and comforting outline of his partner, Sam Hanna sitting in a chair by his bed. For a moment, he thought he saw somebody else, but the outline was outside his line of sight and he did not have the energy to move enough to confirm what he thought he saw.

"Well. Welcome back to the land of the living," Sam said. He tried to sound flippant, but the relief that his partner was actually alive and awake was evident in his voice.

"Where am I," Callen asked, vaguely annoyed that he cannot speak above a whisper.

"You are the Norris Cancer Center at USC," Sam said. You were transferred here about four weeks ago from the CDC Headquarters. "You've been out the whole time. It was pretty much touch and go for a while."

"What the hell happened?"

"You almost died. That's what happened," Sam huffed, trying to sound tough and not entirely succeeding. "Spiral almost killed you. Luckily they had the antidote to treat you and…," Sam paused uncomfortably.

"And what?"

"And apparently you are in the one percent of the population that could have a negative reaction to the antidote."

"Lucky me ," Callen said ruefully.

"Yes. You were lucky. The antidote destroyed your ability to produce bone marrow. You know what that means?" Callen knew vaguely and Sam continued. "It means that you would die. Your immune system would fail and you would need constant blood transfusions just so your body would function. It means that you needed a bone marrow transplant. And you were lucky that Hetty found a donor."

"Bone Marrow? A Transplant? From who?". Callen was no doctor, but he knew that finding a genetic match close enough to do a bone marrow transplant outside of a family was almost impossible.

"Well there's a whole story there," said Sam.

"Sam," Callen's voice was weak, but the implied warning was loud and clear. Callen hated surprises and mysteries. They usually did not go well for him. "Where did the bone marrow come from?" Callen demanded again. As Sam vacilated on what to tell his partner, Callen heard a new voice.

"Me. The bone marrow came from me." Callen gaped. The woman that stepped into his line os sigh, looked just like his mother. Petite with long curly brown hair and large brown eyes. Callen could tell that she was used to laughing more than frowning although now she wore a concerned and even slightly frightened expression. Callen realized that he did remember what his mother looked like that last time he saw her - she looked just like this apparition in front of him.

"Dobroyo utro, Grisha, (Good morning, Greg)" the young woman said in perfect Russian. "Meny zavout Lili, no te meny znall kak Sofia (My name is Lily, but you knew me as Sophia.")

"Ya tvoya sestra (I am your sister). Callen stared as Lily Tomoshenko, CIA Agent currently on loan to NCIS in Washington DC, decimated everything he ever knew or thought he knew about his life.

**This is my first cross over story and my first attemtp at NCIS-LA. I have always really found Callen to be such a sad, lonely character (I get it that's the point), that he just needs somebody. Then Lily came to be (would love it if you read the other stories) and then one day it dawned on me that given her own history and the unknowns in her life, she could be a perfect long-lost sister for Callen. It will call for some minor changes to canon, but I think I have them figured out. By the way - the Russian is authentic. Its the best that I can do phonetically, but it is my first language although I have been speaking English for most of my life now. Please read and review and provide any thoughts and comments. Please let me know if this is of interest to you. Thank you**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for everybody who has been reading this story. A wonderful Guest reader pointed out an error in the Canon and that Amy was the oldest, not Callen. I am grateful for having this pointed out and have adjusted this chapter to reflect the change. I will also make appropriate updates in subsequent chapters. Thank you for reading this as well as caring enough to comment.**

**10 days earlier**

When Hetty Lange said something, her expectation it was that it would be taken asgenerally a fact and not just an opinion.. When she had commented that thisit was not the end for Callen, everybody believed her, or tried to. Admittedly, it was difficult since he was lying in isolation, unconscious, and struggling to breathe even as doctors in full isolation suits fought to stop the damage that Spiral was causing.

During a conference between the doctors treating Callen, Hetty and Sam, the decision was quickly made to airlift Callen to the CDC facility in Georgia. Callen to the CDC facility in Georgia. "There is another problem, we need to deal with," the attending physician told Hetty. "Mr. Callen's immune system has completely collapsed.

"Collapsed?" Hetty put all the meaning in the world into that one word. "How?"

"Side effect of Spiral. About one percent of the population reacts badly to the antidote destroying the bone marrow and without bone marrow, white blood cells cannot be produced and without the white blood cells, the patient becomes vulnerable to anything from an infection from a paper cut to pneumonia starting from a common cold. Unfortunately, the results are almost always fatal."

"No." the finality in Hetty's voice made the doctor start and Sam to get some hope back. "There is always something that can be done. What are the options here, doctor?"

"The only option is for Agent Callen is to get a bone marrow transplant. Does he have any relatives?"

Sam was about to answer in the negative, when Hetty again spoke up. "If it is a bone marrow transplant that Agent Callen needs, then a bone marrow transplant he shall have." Hetty blithely ignored the incredulous look that Sam was giving her.

Once the conversation was finished, Hetty went to the Ops center. Nell and Eric were sitting at their consoles trying to look busy and not to worry about their friend.

"Nell. Eric." Hetty never used first names so that alone made the two look up at her with grave concern in their eyes. "Mr. Callen needs a bone marrow transplant. We all know that he does not have any family, so a genetic match would be almost impossible. We have Mr. Callen's DNA profile that could be run against all DNA databases to which you have….," Hetty paused meaningfully,"…to which you have access. I cannot and will not ask you to do this as the legality of this activity is questionable at best. However, should you find anybody; I will use every method at my disposal to shield you from any negative repercussions." With that, Hetty turned on her heel and left.

Nell and Eric exchanged one glance and as one person faced their keyboards and began typing furiously in their effort to save their friend.

What shocked them both was not that they could not find a match, but that they could and that the match was made within thirty minutes of launching the search. Nell pulled the report off the printer and ran to Hetty's office.

"My God," was all Hetty could say as she raised a hand to her mouth as she looked at the report and the accompanying picture. "Could it be possible," she mumbled to herself much to Nell's confusion. "I need to be on the next available flight to Washington," Hetty was again all business, "and please get Agent Gibbs immediately. I will speak to him in NTAC as soon as he is available."

Lily sat in a conference room and tried to imagine who or what was so important that she was pulled off the surveillance detail she had been on and ordered to report back to NCIS immediately. As a federal agent, she was used to secrecy and the need to act quickly, but never in her entire career has there been this much urgency or this little information. She sighed and checked her watch. It had only been five minutes, but it felt much longer. She settled in to wait.

The door opened and a diminutive woman came in followed by Gibbs. There was something about the woman that radiated authority and without even realizing it; Lily stood up to greet her.

"Agent Tomoshenko," Gibbs said. "This is Hetty Lange. Head of Operations for NCIS Special Projects in California."

"Ma'am," Lily acknowledged holding out her hand. The woman's grip was surprisingly strong and there was intelligence, and steel in her eyes, but Lily noted that there was also a great deal of humor and compassion. "What can I do for you, ma'am," Lily asked.

"Please sit down, Agent Tomoshenko," Hetty said. Lily did so and noticed that Gibbs was leaving, closing the door behind him.

Hetty reached into her back and pulled out a folder. She opened a folder and placed several photographs on the conference table in front of Lily. The photos were of a handsome, light haired man, probably no more than ten years older than Lily. The faintest tickle started at the back of Lily's brain, but she ignored it, focusing instead on Hetty.

"Do you know this man?" Hetty asked.

"I don't think so. Should I?" was Lily's response.

Hetty took a deep breath. "This is going to be awkward and I wish to God there was a more diplomatic or gentle way to tell you what I am going to tell you, but, time is of the essence and I cannot afford those niceties right now. I apologize for that, but it cannot be helped. This man is Agency G. Callen and I have good reason to believe he is your brother."

Lily looked up from the photographs and into Hetty's eyes. Hetty did not seem to be joking. "I have a brother," Lily said. "He is sitting at a desk not thirty feet from here."

"Yes, I know about Agent DiNozzo," Hetty said gently. "What I mean to tell you is that you and Agent Callen share the same parents."

"That's impossible!" Lily did not mean to raise her voice, but this conversation was not making sense and that tickle – like a long forgotten thought or a memory just on the edge of consciousness was beginning to irritate her rational mind. "As far as I know, my mother had no other children."

"Agent Tomoshenko," Hetty's voice was gentle but full of authority. "What I am about to tell you has been kept a secret for over thirty years. It will be hard for you to hear and may be even harder for you to accept, but I swear on my life that every word is true. I have no time to be gentle because a man's life, this man's life," Hetty pointed to the photographs on the table, "is in grave danger and I believe only you have the key to save him."

Lily took a deep breath to steady herself, looked directly at Hetty and said, "OK. I'm ready."

"The first thing that you need to accept is that Irina Tomoshenko was not your birth mother." At Lily's outraged look, Hetty smiled gently and said, "She was your mother in every way that mattered. I know that, but you were not born to her. You were born to one Clara Callen who was a CIA agent working first in Romania and then in the United States. You were the youngest of three children, Agent Callen was the middle child." She did not mention what happened to the oldest child and Lily was too shocked to ask.

"Your father was a KGB officer, "Hetty handed Lily the dossier with information on a man she had never met, "he apparently ran afoul of some very bad people who had him and your mother assassinated. I was too late to save them," Lily's trained ear caught deep sadness in this remark. This was a raw wound even after all these years. "You were just a baby then, not even one yet. Your brother was not quite eight. I swore that I would protect you children who meant hiding both of you as deeply and as completely as I could so the people who killed your parents would never find you."

Lily just stared at Hetty as she continued. "Given your brother's age, we thought it best to keep him in America where he had grown up and to "lose" him, as it were, in the foster care system. You as a baby, needed more. Irina Tomoshenko was also one of my agents – one of my best, and she desperately wanted to raise you as her daughter. You were small enough that we thought you would adapt to the new conditions and you did. Irina moved to Russia as part of the staff at the United States Embassy in Moscow and raised you as her own. Nobody ever suspected that the little Russian girl named Lily Tomoshenko was actually Sophia Callen, missing baby daughter of the agents that were executed by the Comescu cartel." At the name, Lily looked up. She knew the Comescu cartel. Everybody in her business did.

"So let me get this straight," Lily said. "I was born in the US, taken to Russia and then made an American citizen under a different name?"

"Yes," Hetty said. "We wanted to hide you completely away. We were more successful then I could have hoped. After Irina retired from the CIA, I lost track of her. I had heard that she moved to the United States and that she had gotten married, but you both had lives that were separate from anything that happened to your parents. I would have been very happy to leave everything alone and never had even thought to look for you, except that Agent Callen desperately needs your help."

Lily did not say anything, but continued to look at Hetty. Her head was roiling with emotions and questions, but her training kept a check on it as she tried to process what Hetty was saying. When she went back to this time later, what struck her was how accepting she was as if it all made sense on some deep level she could feel, but not understand.

"Agent Callen was very badly injured in an incident pertaining to a case he had just completed. He was exposed to a toxin and his reaction was worse than anticipated. This toxin has destroyed his bone marrow and with it his immune system. He is dying." Hetty saw Lily cringe. "He needs a bone marrow transplant very quickly or he will not survive. You are a genetic match and his only hope. I know I am asking a great deal of you and that you have no reason to agree, but, "Hetty hesitated and Lily saw emotion well up in her eyes even as she quickly suppressed it again, " he is very important to a great number of people. You are now his only chance. Would you be willing to donate bone marrow?"

Lily continued looking at Hetty. There really was no decision to make. There was only the right thing to do. "Yes," she whispered, then she took a deep breath and blew it out to calm herself down. "Yes," she said in a louder voice. "I will donate bone marrow to…," she hesitated, but somehow again she knew the truth of it, "…to my brother."

**Thank you to the Guest reader for the correction. I hope this is better. The change will be reflected in other chapters as well. As always your reviews, thoughts and comments are very much appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to a wonderful Guest reader, who identified a potential gap in my logic. I think I have addressed most of it in this chapter, so thatnk you for calling it out. **

Tony and Tim both looked up from their work when Lily entered the bull pen. She smiled at the two most important men in her life. "Tony? Do you have a few minutes? I need to run something by you." Tony heard something odd in her voice and looked over at Tim whose own look of concern confirmed that he was not hearing things.

"Sure thing," he smiled his famous smile.

Lily knew that Tim would be curious and worried, she quickly walked over and whispered, "See you tonight?" and smiled. She had no secrets from Tim – at least none the she knew about.

Tony and Lily left the NCIS building and walked outside in the Navy Yard. It was a glorious fall day crisp but not cold. Tony's expression became serious as he stopped Lily and turned her around. "OK. Now that you have my full attention, what's going on?"

"What do you remember about my mom, Tony?" Not the most auspicious beginning to a conversation, but Lily had already had a tough day.

Tony looked at his step-sister appraisingly. "Why?" When she did not answer, he continued to walk. "I remember that she was pretty and that she was funny, but also quiet. As a kid, for some reason I had always thought there was something sad that had happened to her that she could never get over. Honestly, Lily, I had always thought it had something to do with your dad." At this Lily looked at Tony.

"How so?"

"Neither Senior nor I ever knew what happened to him. Irina never said, so I figured it must have been something bad. I always thought you must take after him, because you really did not look like you mom."

Lily, smiled ruefully, she stopped at a bench, sat down, and pulled Tony down too. "You are more right than you can ever guess. Turns out, I do look like my dad." She looked away, unable momentarily to continue.

"Lily, what are you saying," Tony's voice was full of concern. It was remarkable, even to him, how protective he had become of Lily in the past 18 months of having her back in his life. Having almost lost her to the bullets of a Russian mobster, he had sworn to himself that he would do whatever he could to protect her.

"I just met with Hetty Lange." Tony nodded. He had met that individual before and frankly found her to be her very own force of nature. "She had some….," Lily paused, "…some interesting information for me." She took a deep breath, forced her hands to lie still in her lap, and continued. "It turns out that my parents were Clara Callen and Major Nikita Reznikov, formerly of the KGB. ." Tony's mouth opened and shut as Lily continued. "Yes – that Callen. The parents of one Agent G. Callen out of the Los Angeles office. Tony – he is my brother." The tension overcame Lily and the tears that she had been holding back came to her eyes. "My parents, my real parents were murdered and I was taken to Russia under a different name to protect me from the Comescu cartel. My real name is Sofia Callen and I was born in America."

Tony, never could stand to see her hurt. He put his arm around her and pulled her in closer to him. "Changes nothing as far as I'm concerned. You are Lily Tomoshenko, my sister. Whatever or whoever else you were, are, or would be, is incidental to that fact." He emphasized his words by tightening his arm around her shoulders and Lily cuddled in closer, glad for the human contact. "But why did Hetty tell you now?"

"Agent Callen has been hurt and he needs my help. He needs bone marrow and, of course, I'm a match. I will be leaving shortly for LA to have the surgery. Its all happening so fast, that I know I have not processed it all yet, but I wanted you to know all this from me."

Lily stared straight ahead when Tony started to speak. "Nothing about this changes anything. You go do what you think is right. I'll be here for you. I will always have your Six." Lily looked up at Tony gratefully as his blue eyes smiled down at her. Just as she had done as a little girl, she laid her head on his shoulder drawing strength from his presence.

* * *

"I get it, Hetty. I just don't like it." Gibbs and Hetty were alone in a conference room and Gibbs was pacing. "Callen is a good man and a damn fine agent. One of the best that I've ever worked with. He does not deserve to die like this, I want him to get the help he needs, I really do. But this surgery is risky and you know what Lily has been through herself. Lily is strong, like Callen, but this is a lot to ask of her."

Gibbs took a deep breath, and pulled his hands across his face as if he was tired, and went on speaking, "God, Hetty. I remember DC. I remember taking Callen to see her and Irina. Just once. Just so he knew she was safe. Hewas just a kid then too and I still don't know if I did the right thing. It nearly killed him to see her and not tell her who he was and then, when she and Irina disappeared. I know why we did not tell him they were still alive, but...'" his voice trailed off as he continued to remember.

Hetty took a deep breath. "It was not our decision to make to make back then. We were trying to keep them both safe. We are still trying to keep them safe."

"But now the decision is ours," Gibbs continued forcefully. "They deserve to know now. Hell, they deserved to know then too."

"I know Jethro," Hetty acknowledged sadly and with perhaps just a touch of guilt. "It seems like the habit of secrecy is a hard one to break. I dissebled with Agent Tomoshenko even now. When did it become easier to lie then to tell the truth," Hetty asked.

"I don't know," Gibbs said, "but it ends now." Gibbs looked directly at Hetty challenging her to disagree with him.

Hetty stared back at Gibbs. She hated being forced into anything, but the man was right. She owed this to her agent and she owed it to Lily for sacrificing so much to keep him alive. They both deserved to know the story and if she had some blame to take for the pain she caused, it was deserved. Hetty sighed. "I promise, Jethro," she finally said. "I will go straight from the airport to the hospital and tell them both when they are together." She purposefully remained silent on what she would do if Callen did not make it. That eventualithy did not bear thinking about.

"Callen has some powerful enemies. Anybody associated with him, risks getting hurt…or worse." Gibbs interrupted her thoughts with a change of topic.

"I know all that too, Jethro, believe me, I do." Hetty marveled at how protective Gibbs was of this young woman, but then again, he had always had a highly developed sense of responsibility for those under his command. It was what made him an excellent leader and an excellent man. "I would not have asked and I would not have risked exposing her if there was any other choice, but there isn't. Agent Callen will die without the transplant. Somebody from my team will always be with her – you know how good they are. Also," Hetty hesitated, "Why don't you send one of your agents with her. Our teams work well together and the extra set of hands would be welcomed."

Gibbs still did not like it very much, but he owed Callen and he could not stop Lily even if he wanted to. All he could do, was to try to keep her safe. He stood up and went to the door. He opened it and looked into the bullpen where Tim McGhee was furiously typing on his computer.

"Mcgee!"

"Ya, Boss." The younger agent was immediately alert.

"Pack your bag. You and Agent Tomoshenko are going to LA. Tonight."

"And that's the story as far as I know it," Lily finished telling Tim as they were packing their bags. "Gibbs must be very concerned about this whole thing to send you with me, but as far as I can tell, there has been no trouble with the Comescu's for a long time." She stopped and looked at Tim. "The really strange thing is that I guess I really don't know who I am. I had always been Lily Tomoshenko, daughter or Irinia Tomoshenko, but I guess I am Sofia Callen too. All of a sudden, I'm really not sure who I am," Lily shuddered, "Its like I've been living a lie all these years."

Tim smiled. When Gibbs gave him the summary version of the situation, he was worried about how Lily would take it. "I know who you are," he said gently, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her into a kiss, "You are the woman that I love. Lily or Sofia, it doesn't matter. I love you either way."

Lily kissed him back. "Love you too. Now lets finish packing. Tony will be here in a few minutes to take us to the airport."

Tony parked the car, and helped Lily with her bags. While Lily was taking them to the curb, Tony put a hand on Tim's shoulder making the younger man look at him. Usually Tony was a joker and teased Tim continuously, even after all the years that they had worked together. Now he was deadly serious. "Take care of her, Tim. Please." He said. Tim returned Tony's look and nodded.

"I will."

"I know," Tony said and clapped Tim on the shoulder just as Lily returned to give Tony a hug goodbye.

Her head was resting against the airplane window, Lily dreamed. This was not the horrible nightmares she had been having after being shot. This was a golden-llt dream of a memory mostly forgotten.

She must have been a young teenager, because her mother looked young. . Based on the size and decorations, it must have been their first apartment in Washington, D.C. As far as she knew, her mother was a teacher at a local school. One evening they were having dinner, and the doorbell rang. Irina went to answer the door and Lily, stood by the kitchen trying to see who was there. She was not very tall so she had to stand on tip toes.

There were two men at the door. One older than the other. The younger man was blond and blue eyed and had a ready smile. For some reason, Lily was immediately drawn to him. He towered over her, but kneeled down to be at her eye level. He spoke perfect Russian and although he was smiling, there was something sad in his eyes. She would not have recognized this as a child, but looking at him as an adult through the eyes of the child, she saw it clearly.

"Hello," he had said. "it is very nice to meet you. I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor?"

Confused, Lily looked over at her mother, who nodded. "Da," Lily answered, "Yes".

The younger man continued. "I have this necklace. It was my mom's and she really wanted me to give it to somebody nice. Somebody like my little sister. Do you think, you could pretend to be my little sister and hold on to this necklace for me?"

It was a strange request, but it was a pretty little cross with different colored stones. Lily again checked with her mother, who nodded again.

"Yes." Lily said with certainty.

The young man, reached around and put the pendant on her. "May I give you a hug?" he asked. When Lily nodded yes, he gently wrapped his arms around her and she hugged back. In her dream, Lily could have sworn, she felt him shaking.

After that the two men, shook hands with her mother and left.

As they returned to their dinner, Lily realized that she did not know the names of their guests and she asked, "Mama, who were those men?"

Her mom looked a little said. "They are friends of the family," she said. "The nice young man who gave you the necklace is Greg. I do not know the name of the other man."

Lily awoke with a start. The dream was fresh in her mind. She could not believe that she had forgotten that encounter. She touched the cross that she always wore, took it off to look at the stones "Oh, my God," she breathed. The top stone was an Amethyst, for a February birthday, the middle one was an Aquamarine, symbol for a March birthday, tand the bottom one was sapphire, representing September – the month that she was born.

Tim, who had been dozing, sat up and looked at Lily in concern. "Are you OK."

"Tim. Do you know if agent Callen was born in March?" Tim looked at her in confusion, but nodded. "I think so. I remember sending him an e-card sometime around then."

That is why the photograph that Hetty showed her, seemed familiar. She had met Agent Callen before. It was so long ago and had been such a short meeting that she had forgotten it entirely and had just assumed that her mother had given her the cross. He had recognized her. He had come to see her, his little sister. He had given her their mother's cross. But now another question surfaced in her already confused brain. Whose birthday was commemorated by the Amethyst? Where was that sibling?

"Oh my God," she said again as her mind jumped back to the other man in her dream. He was much younger and his hair was not silver, but she recognized him immediately. Her brother's partner had been Gibbs.

**I hope that you are enjoying this story. Looks like Callen's and Lily's lives have been connected much longer than they had thought. For the purposes of this story, I am thinking that Lily would have been about thirteen and Callen 23 - a young junior agent - perhaps even on his first assignment. I had to play with the ages just a touch to make the story work. Another great question was brought up about Callen finding Lily in the first place. Hopefully this has now been addressed. I will also have an explanation about how she got "lost" again so that Callen has not seen her in the last 15 or 20 years or so. I hope you all are still enjoying this story. Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think. I really appreciate your reviews, comments and recommendations. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you all for your patience and to all of you who have liked this story. I have just been crazy busy and finally the voices got too loud and I just needed to write the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it. **

Lily was still mulling over her dream when the plane landed at LAX at midnight. She and Tim walked off the plane pulling their suitcase behind them. Lily was thinking longingly of a shower and a few hours of sleep when she heard Tim call out. "Deeks. Kensi. What are you two doing here?"

Lily saw two people approach and by their carriage, she knew them to be armed and assumed they must be other federal agents with whom Tim had worked before. By the way their bodies unconsciously angled toward each other, Lily wondered if there was more to them than a professional relationship – she made a mental note to ask Tim about that later.

Kensi was an attractive, dark-haired woman about her own age and Deeks was a few years older with a head of shaggy blond hair and looked like he needed to shave and shower.

Tim reached out to shake Deeks' hand and quickly embraced Kensi. He then turned and introduced her. "This is Special Agent Lily Tomoshenko of the CIA. Kensi Bly," Lily reached out her hand and the other woman took it in a surprisingly strong grip, "and Marty Deeks," Lily shook hands with the man as well and noticed that although he looked to her as the definitive California beach bum, there was a sharp intelligence as well as humor and great compassion in his blue eyes.

"Agent Tomoshenko," Kensi began.

"It's just Lily." Kensi nodded and smiled slightly.

"I just wanted to say, 'Thank you'. Callen means...," she stopped for a moment, took a deep breath and started again, "Callen means a great deal to us and we very much appreciate what you are doing for him."

Lily looked around and down; anywhere other than at the other woman as she was very uncomfortable with the emotions in her eyes. She tried for something clever to say, but nothing came to mind. "I am glad that I can help," she said finding the truth in her words even as she spoke them.

"Not that we don't appreciate it, but you guys didn't need to come to the airport," Tim spoke up.

"Yah, we kinda did," Deeks replied. "Hetty called us and told us you were coming. She thought it would be….," he paused looking for the correct word, "…advisable if we met you and escorted you to the hospital."

"The hospital?" Lily asked. "I had thought we were to go there tomorrow morning."

"There have been some developments," Kensi said. She continued when she saw the twin inquiring looks from Tim and Lily, "The doctors say that Callen needs the bone marrow as quickly as possible. Before he gets any weaker."

Lily looked at her and she knew there was more. Something that Kensi did not want to talk about.

"What else. There is something more. I can tell." Lily cringed as her voice came out harsher and more abrupt than she meant it to, but it sounded like things were dire and she had not flown across the country to lose the chance to help her brother because she was worried about hurting somebody's feelings.

"We think. It's just a suspicion…that somebody does not want Callen to make it out of the hospital alive."

Deeks took up the story. "We've not got much to go on. A few times the phone rang in Callen's room and nobody was there. The power failed in the portion of the hospital grid that supplies Callen's room. A few times, one of us would enter just in time to see somebody leaving – somebody that the nurses and doctors didn't know. It all could be a coincidence, or…not. We're not taking chances."

"And," Kensi continued, "we got very specific orders to take no chances with you," she said as she looked directly into Lily's eyes.

Lily wanted to protest or argue. She hated the attention, but looking at the determination in Kensi's eyes and the hard set of Deeks' chin, she decided that an argument would be futile. Lily took a deep breath, "OK. What's the plan?" she asked.

"We have a car outside. We'll take you right to the hospital. The Doctors want to get started on the tests right away."

Lily looked over at Tim briefly and he nodded. "Ok," she said. "Let's go." Tim and Lily loaded their bags in the car that was parked at the curb and got in the back as Deeks got behind the wheel and Kensi got into the passenger seat in front. The car that pulled out behind them, followed them very closely for a few miles on the 110 Freeway before turning onto an off ramp was noticed and dismissed as a typical Angeleno driver.

* * *

The moment that the team arrived at the hospital, Lily was whisked away by doctors. While she was glad to be doing something, the urgency of the testing and the speed with which the team was working meant that Callen was doing badly and this terrified her. To get this far and to lose a brother that she never knew she had was intolerable.

Once the poking and prodding slowed down, she asked to see Callen. The answer left her unsatisfied.

"I am about to go under the knife to save a man's life. The least that can be done it to permit me a few minutes to actually see him."

Dr. Marshall, the chief surgeon explained, "Agent Tomoshenko, Agent Callen is in Isolation – nobody can see him now. It is for his own safety. He is very vulnerable right now."

Lily nodded, but refused to give up. Depending on how things went, it might be her only chance. "I just want to see him. I don't need to be close. Please."

There must have been something in her eyes because Dr. Marshall stared at her for a long moment, opened his mouth to say something, shut it with a snap, shook head and finally said one word. "OK."

Lily had not realized that she was holding her breath, but she let it out with a "whoosh" when the surgeon agreed.

"Thank you," she whispered.

* * *

Several minutes later, Lily was standing in the ICU, looking through a window at a body in a bed. She noticed the armed security guard at the door and recalled Kensi's description of the suspcious incidents that had occurred. "Good God," she thought to herself, "and I thought my life was complicated.

There were so many tubes and wires that she had to strain to see Callen's face.

Tim walked up behind Lily and put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you OK?"

"I'm not sure," was Lily's honest answer. "I thought this would help, but it's not like I'm seeing him. Not really. I can't see anything through all the tubes and wires. It's like a movie or something. Not a real person." Lily took a deep, if slightly shaky breath. "And still I am terrified of losing him. Isn't that ridiculous?" she laughed bitterly. "Losing somebody I've never even had." She looked at Tim, trying to be brave, but her face crumpled and tears she had been holding back for hours finally came. "Oh God, Tim; I'm scared. He can't die. Not now. Not without knowing he has family; that he's not all alone. I can't lose him now, Tim. I can't…," her voice trailed off into a sob.

Tim gathered Lily into his arms, and whispered soothingly, "I know. It will be OK. Callen is strong. He'll pull through this," Tim continued to repeat the same words over and over as he tried to quell the shaking that had overtaken Lily.

A soft, discrete cough caused Tim and Lily to step apart, although Tim still kept a protective arm about her shoulders. Lily lifted her face, wiping the tears away with the back of her hand to see Dr. Marshall standing in front of her with a studiously neutral expression on his face. "Agent Tomoshenko, we are ready for you."

Lily felt Tim's arm reflexively tighten at those words, but he immediately forced it to relax with a mumble of apology. Lily took a deep breath, nodded, and with a last look through the window and a gentle caress of her hand on the glass she turned to follow the doctor to the Pre-Op room.

**Thank you for reading and for your continued support. I hope you like Lily as much as I do and I hope her interactions with the other characters are genuine and what you would expect them to be. I love your comments, recommendations, thoughts, and, of course, reviews. I know where the story is going and have most of the next chapter at least figured out so hopefully it will not be as long next time. Thank you again**


	5. Chapter 5

**I tried to capture what surgery and the hospital may be like without direct knowledge. Any corrections would be greatly appreciated. Please enjoy this chapter. **

The next two days were a blur for Lily. The last thing that she clearly remembered was lying down on the hospital gurney and the nurse starting the IV drip that contained the muscle relaxant. She vaguely remembered being wheeled into the Operating Room and seeing a mask lowered on her face and a gentle voice saying, "Breathe deeply." Then darkness.

When she tried to remember the time immediately after surgery, Lily really could only remember sensations and a few brief images. She remembered opening her eyes and seeing Tim. She remembered trying to move and feeling pain and then again nothing as nurses administered pain killers.

The first coherent thought she remembered, was realizing that she was thirsty. She then realized that she was awake and opened her eyes. The shades in her room were up and by the light she guessed that it must be mid-afternoon. The question was midafternoon of what day? She turned her head and saw Tim sitting by her bed. He appeared to be napping, but the squeaking of the bed caused by her movements woke him up. He realized that she was awake and leaned in. "How are you feeling," he asked anxiously.

"Thirsty," was the only word Lily could utter. Tim quickly got ice chips and offered them to Lily. The ice felt wonderful as it melted and the water ran down her throat. It helped Lily wake up and shake off the fogginess of the drugs. "What day is it?" she asked.

"Thursday," Tim said. "You've been in and out for almost thirty six hours. The doctors say you are doing well and that from here on out, they will be managing you pain with much more mild medicines so you will be awake.

Everything came rushing back to Lily. She remembered where she was and why. And one burning question overwhelmed everything else. "How is he?" she asked.

Tim shrugged. "Don't know. They won't tell me anything. It practically took an act of Congress for them to allow me in here.

"How'd you manage?" Lily asked, smiling.

"I pulled a 'Gibbs," Tim answered, his green eyes dancing with amusement. "I threatened."

Their word play was interrupted by the entrance of Dr. Marshall. Lily used her returning strength to push herself up in her bad and Tim moved forward and put a pillow under her back to support her. She smiled her gratitude.

"Dr. Marshall, how is he?" she asked, glad that her voice sounded much stronger.

Dr. Marshall looked at the young woman in the bed and appeared to be considering his answer. Lily was having none of that and was impatient for an answer.

"I realize that there may be privacy concerns, but given that the reason I'm in this bed is to save Agent Callen's life, I think I am entitled to an answer."

Dr. Marshall took a deep breath. "The surgery appears to be successful. His white cell count and Hemoglobin are both improving. He is still unconscious and weak and likely to remain so for several more days at least. The risk of infection has been greatly reduced, and while there is still some danger of a catastrophic collapse of his health, right now, we are cautiously optimistic."

Without skipping a beat, Lily said. "I want to see him. Not through the window. I want to be in the room with him."

The doctor seemed to consider this request. Lily was getting ready to argue her point when he surprised her by nodding his ascent. "Yes. You can see him. It may do him good to have friends around him. If you are feeling up to it, I want you to have something to eat and then I will send a nurse with a wheelchair."

Lily considered her stomach which was roiling from the cocktail of pain medications and antibiotics and found the idea of food repulsive, but given how much she wanted to see her brother, she took a deep breath and nodded."

Just as he had promised, the tray with the broth had just been removed when a nurse came in with a wheelchair. Lily was stiff and the incisions hurt, but she managed to get out of the bed and into the chair with Tim's help.

"Want me to come with you?" Tim asked. The truth was that Lily desperately wanted him with her, but she knew in her heart that she needed to do this herself. She flashed Tim a smile that she hoped was more confident than she actually felt.

"I'll be fine. And you look beat. How about you get the hotel and get some rest."

Tim looked like he wanted to argue, but the look in her eyes must have convinced him that she was not going to change her mind. He leaned over, kissed her gently on the lips and headed out. "I'll see you in a bit. Call me if you need anything…anything," he said.

Within minutes, Lily was wheeled past the armed security guard and into Callen's room. Now she could see the man lying on the bed. She wheeled herself closer to the bed and gasped as she recognized the face of the young man who had visited her all those years ago.

But he had changed too. His hair seemed darker and there were lines around his mouth and eyes; lines that spoke of sadness and pain. The paleness of his face and the tubes and wires surrounding him made him look very vulnerable. A quick glance at the monitors indicated that if he was not in distinct distress, he was in some discomfort. His breathing appeared shallow and his heart seemed to be racing. When Lily heard him moan softly, her heart clenched in sympathy and she could not help herself, but reached out and took his large strong hand in both of hers.

The human contact seemed to help. Callen visibly relaxed. His breathing slowed and by the beeping of the heart monitor, Lily could tell that Callen's heart rate was returning to a more regular rhythm.

So substantial was the change in the vital signs that a nurse entered the room to check on her patient. She smiled when she saw Lily sitting with Callen. "Thank you," she said. In response to Lily's questioning look, she continued, "Agent Callen always seems to do better when there is somebody with him. It's as if he know when he is alone, even in his current state, and he cannot get enough human contact." Lily's heart tightened again and tears sprang to her eyes. What kind of life had Callen led that a mere touch of the hand has such an effect on him? She started when Callen's grip on her hand tightened momentarily as another spasm of pain passed through his body. She reached out her hand and gently touched his face, brushing some hair off his forehead.

"Its alright, Big Brother," she whispered into his ear. "Everything will be alright. We've found each other. You will never be alone again. My hand to God."

**I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I think that Lily realizes how lucky she is having had the family that she did whereas Callen has essentially always been alone. I think as the story progresses this will be a topic for them and one way they bond quickly even though they barely know one another. I hope this plays true and I welcome any recommendations, comments, thoughts, ideas, and reviews. Thank you for taking the time to read. Please note that Lily's phrase "My hand to God." is a fairly figurative (not a too literal translation) of a fairly common Russian phrase. She grew up with a Russian speaking mother, so I would assume has adapted phrases and has translated them without even thinking about it**


	6. Chapter 6

**I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Thank you for reading and a special thank you to the Guest Reader who identified some gaps in logic and canon. I went back to Chapters 2-5 to update and I think it is better now. I have started to explain how Callen lost track of Lily and will continue in subsequent chapters. I have crafted, what I hope is a satisfying reunion between a brother and sister.**

When the nurse came to wheel Lily back to her room, Lily did not want to leave Callen. Somehow, just sitting there with him felt right and, oddly, she felt much closer to him then she had any right to since, she only learned of his existence several days prior. She begged for a few more minutes, but the nurse was gentle, but insistent and within five minutes, Lily was back in her own bed. Within the next half hour, her dressings had been changed, her medication had been delivered along with her dinner. She just had enough energy to call Tim to check in before her eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep.

Lily woke up early the next morning when the hospital was still quiet and the nurses had not yet come by to take her blood pressure or temperature. There were so many thoughts and questions whirling in her mind that she needed some time to put them all in order and to start trying to figure out what exactly were happening. Lily pulled out the dossiers on the people that she now knew were her parents and her iPad and started to type. She logged into her CIA account and began nosing around. Surely there was something in there somewhere that would help her understand what happened to her parents and why she and Callen had been separated.

Lily moved quickly researching and probing. She pulled information from the CIA as well as what she could get from NCIS. Slowly a picture began to form. Lily looked at it in amazement. It could not be. She must be wrong. How could this have happened with nobody noticing? But the more she looked the more certain she became.

Although she was familiar with the Comescu family, her work had not brought her into contact with their cartel. As Lily read the classified files, her eyes grew wider and her heart began to race. "Oh, no," she breathed, rubbing her face with her hands. She needed to get verification of what she was seeing. Maybe, just maybe she was still wrong – she prayed that she was, but truly feared that what she was seeing and what her expertise in analyzing data indicated was the ugly, awful, dangerous truth.

She reached for her cell phone and dialed a number in Russia. She waited for several rings and then spoke into the phone. "Mishka. Long time no see," she spoke in Russian. "I need a favor." She laughed. "Yes, Mishka. I'll owe you. Disneyland tickets for when you come to L.A? No problem. Now. Here is what I need..." Lily quickly sketched out the information she was looking for, gave the man her cell phone number and asked for him to text her as soon as he knew anything.

She checked her watch and decided that it was a good time to call Tony. She realized how much she missed being able to see him and speak to him every day. She just wanted to hear his voice and the moment he picked up, she smiled. They chatted for a few minutes, and she updated him on how she was feeling and that Callen seemed to be improving. Before they hung up, Tony spoke, "Hey DL," Lily started as Tony had not used that childhood nickname in years. He used to call her "Diamond Lil" as a play on her name and to commemorate their mutual love of old movies.

"Yes, Tony," she replied.

"It will be fine. Everything will be OK. I promise."

Lily sighed, "It just feels like I am being torn in so many directions. You. Callen. I'm just not sure what I am supposed to be feeling."

She heard the smile in Tony's voice. "You have an enormous capacity to love and care," Tony said with great certainty. "There is no doubt that there is room for both of us. Take it easy. I promise it will all work out. I am here and I am still your brother and that'll never change."

Lily let out a breath that she did not realize she was holding. Without knowing it, Tony had said exactly what she needed him to. "I love you, you know," she said.

"I know," was the cavalier reply. "Take care of yourself and keep me updated." And just before they were going to disconnect, he said, "I love you too, DL."

* * *

The nurses came in at 8:15 and Lily was eating breakfast by 9 am. She desperately wanted an update on Callen, but there was nobody to give her one until she spoke to Dr. Marshall.

When he finally came in at about 10:30, the first words out of her mouth were, "How is he?"

Dr. Marshall smiled. "The treatment is working. We have reduced Agent Callen's medication. I would not be surprised if he woke up later today." Before Lily could even say anything, Dr. Marshall said, "Yes. You can go see him after the nurses change your dressings."

* * *

Lily waited impatiently for the nurses who arrived at about noon. Skipping her lunch, Lily was dressed and walking, albeit slowly, to Callen's room. Instead of the guard, Lily saw a tall black man standing outside the door. He was armed. "Agent Hanna?" Lily recalled hearing descriptions of him. "I'm Lily Tomoshenko."

Good Lord, but Hanna was intimidating. Until he smiled. "Agent Tomoshenko. Nice to meet you. I'm Sam"

"And I'm just Lily."

Hanna smiled and all of sudden looked like a worried friend and partner and not an ogre. "Thank you for what you have done." He noticed Lily's inquiring look toward the door and smiled even wider.

"He's awake. The doctor and nurses are in there checking him out, but we should be able to go in in a little bit." Sam's face became a bit more serious. "He really has no idea who you are?"

"I don't think so, but I think he is going to have to know now."

Sam nodded and then noticed that the doctor and nurse were leaving and motioning them to go in. Lily let Sam go in first and followed him in, hanging back by the door. Callen was sitting up, supported by the raised bed and pillows. He still had most of the wires and tubes, and still looked pale and gaunt. His eyes were still closed, but they opened when he heard Sam's voice. Lily listened to their banter for a minute and could not help smiling. It reminded her of how Tony and Tim sounded. Two friends whose true feelings were masked by humor. Then she realized that Sam was looking at her and motioning her to come forward.

When she was asked later, why she chose to address Callen in Russian, Lily had no good answer. It just seemed right. As she spoke, she saw what little color there was drain from Callen's face as he shook his head in disbelief.

"Sophia," Callen whispered, his voice shaking. "It can't be. They told me you died in a car accident years ago."

Lily spoke to him quietly and gently. She remained focused on Callen. Sam and the room simply disappeared. She did not know the history to which Callen was referring, but there would be time to figure it all out. Right now, she just needed to make sure that Callen knew who she was.

"You came to see me and," she hesitated for a moment, "…my mom. You and Agent Gibbs. You did not stay very long, but you said that you wanted to give me something." She was approaching him slowly. She realized that she was shaking and that tears were pouring from her eyes. "You told me you had a cross from your mother and asked me to keep it for you." Lily reached and pulled on the chain to reveal the little jeweled cross. "I have not taken it off since that day."

She heard Callen suck in a breath. She continued in the same soft voice. She was almost at his bedside now. "You put it on me and you asked if you could give me a hug. I felt you shake when you hugged me. Thinking about it now, I don't know if it was because you were afraid that I would know who you were or that I would not." She permitted herself a small smile. She was now standing by the bed. She desperately wanted to reach out to take Callen's hand, but held off. It seemed to her that he needed time and when – and if – he was ready, he would let her know. She continued, " Callen. It is me. Hetty told me some of the story and the rest we can figure out together. But I am here now and I am not going anywhere."

Callen stared at her. The look was something between disbelief and wild, desperate hope. It broke Lily's heart. "My God," Callen whispered. "All these years. All these years." Tentatively, as if fearing that she would disappear, he reached out and took her hand. Then as if realizing she was real and solid, he let out something between a sob and a gasp and pulled her to him, enveloping her in his arms and burying his face in her hair as she felt his body convulse with silent sobs.

**This was harder to write then I had thought it would be. I hope I struck the right balance with the "feels" without going overboard. I promise to explain more about how Lily got "lost". I hopw you liked this chapter. Thank you for taking the time to read it and as always, please review and let me know how you are liking this story or what I can do to make it better. Thank you**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the delay. I thought that some explanations were in order. I hope to have stayed essentially within canon, but always appreciate call outs, if I am seriously off base somewhere.**

Lily clung to Callen and felt her own tears run down her cheeks and soak his hospital gown. She had never known about this other family. Her mom, and then Tony and Tony Senior was what she had known growing up, but somehow she felt that she had known Callen forever. It felt right to be in his arms and to be offering what comfort she could.

She did not know how long they stayed that way. But eventually, she ran out of tears and Callen's shaking had subsided. They finally, if somewhat unwillingly broke apart. Callen did not release her hand and just continued to stare into her face as if he still could not quite believe that she was real.

Lily settled on the edge of the bed. "Irina…I mean my mom…never spoke of any of this. I really had no idea until about a week ago when Hetty told me about you, Callen."

"You were just a baby when….," Callen took a deep breath before continuing, "Before our parents were killed. I think everything was done to keep you safe and away from the Comescu's. They had a vendetta that started with our grandfather and is still going on. They have sworn to not stop until every single one of us is dead." Callen finished the sentence in a flat tone that belied the pain he still felt and Lily felt his hand reflexively tighten on hers.

"I get that I was hidden and I can even understand why they separated us. But you found me once and then you stayed away." Lily stopped as a realization hit her with the force of a train. "You did not stay away. You actually thought that I was dead. What happened that would make you think that?" She looked at Callen who returned her look obviously at a loss.

"I think I can help clarify." Lily looked toward the voice and saw Hetty standing in the door way. The older woman met her gaze and smiled a gently smile. "I am very glad to see that you are on the road to recovery, Mr. Callen. Thank you, Agent Tomoshenko. I know that this whole process has not been easy for you. I am sorry to say that I was part of the decisions that kept you and Mr. Callen apart." Lily started and looked at Callen whose face had taken on a stricken look of somebody who had been betrayed.

Callen's expression had not been lost on Hetty and her voice softened and became compassionate. "All of us at the CIA had been taken by surprise by the assassination of your parents and we moved quickly and," Hetty paused to draw a breath, "precipitously to insure your safety. We certainly owed it to you parents and as it is, we were not entirely successful." Lily looked from Hetty to Callen, but both were lost in their own thoughts and were not going to clarify the meaning of that obscure phrase for her. "We had never set out to separate the children, but it became difficult to hide three children together."

"Three children," Lily could not help to interject. There were three stones in the cross. "There was another sibling? What happened?"

"Her name was Amy. She died in an accident in an orphanage." Callen had not meant for his tone to be so harsh; he had not thought of Amy in a long time and the pain that he felt on remembering was intense. He looked at Lily and saw her eyes bright with unshed tears as she mourned for a sister she had never known. He released her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him again. "I am sorry. I should not have just blurted it out. It was a long time ago and really was a terrible accident. I am sorry," Callen said gently into her ear as she rested against him letting one more piece of the story, one more item of tragedy wash over her. Callen held Lily for a few moments as she absorbed his words and then watched as she pulled herself together and with a deep breath wiped her eyes, and sat up. He took her hand again and squeezed gently.

Hetty quietly cleared her throat. She had moved into the room now and taken a seat in the armchair. "As I was saying. It was never our goal to keep you apart. We had hoped to hide Sophia…Lily until she was older and not quite as vulnerable. Of course, by then, you would be an adult too. We had not anticipated - although perhaps we should have – that both of you would choose careers that were so similar to your parents'. But I digress. You both know the basics. Mr. Callen was sent to an orphanage and Agent Tomoshenko was adopted by one of my agents, Irina. I stayed in touch with Irina over the years and as things deteriorated in Russia, she decided to move to the United States as did many other Russian citizens."

"We saw no reason at that point that you would not be safe here, Agent Tomoshenko. After all, Sophia Callen was presumed dead. You and your mother moved to Washington DC."

"This is where you come in, Mr. Callen. You were a young agent then – on one of your first assignments and you had been partnered with a veteran agent, Leroy Jethro Gibbs. I must admit that Leroy has been," Hetty paused for a moment searching for a word even as a slight smile played around her lips, "reticent about exactly what happened then, but as I understand it, Mr. Callen had convinced him to break protocol so that he could look for his sister."

Lily smiled. The only rules that Gibbs followed were his own. He seemed to view the others as mere suggestions.

Callen cleared his throat and took over the narrative. "I was about to go deep undercover into the Russian mafia. Several years probably with no guarantee that I would come out alive on the other side. Gibbs knew the story and I managed to convince him to let me see Sophia…Lily. Just so that I knew she was OK. It would be unscheduled and very fast to minimize any chance of me being connected to the Tomoshenkos." Callen smiled.

"Gibbs hated the whole idea, but he went to bat for me and made it happen. I still don't know what strings he had to pull, but there I was. In your living room. God, I wanted to tell you so much, but I had sworn up and down that I would not. You must have thought I was crazy."

Lily looked up at her brother. "Actually I had thought that you were very sad."

Callen swallowed and cleared his throat and went on. "In any case. I was on a plane to Russia two days later. No contact with anybody except my handlers for thirty two months. When I came out and after I was debriefed and repatriated, I went back to the apartment and you were gone. I looked for you, but all I found was this." Callen closed his eyes against the pain of the memory as sharp now as it had been all those years ago. He reached for his wallet and lifted out a yellowed newspaper article. He handed it to Lily.

It was a clipping from the Washington Post. "Two killed in a fiery crash on the 14th Street Bridge." The article went on to detail the particulars of the accident which happened during a particularly bad winter storm. Lily gasped as she looked to the bottom of the article. The picture was of her with her mother; it had been taken a few months before the date of the article.

"Oh my God." Lily whispered. "Callen. I had no idea. I was too young to read the papers much. By this point we had moved away from DC anyway."

"I think I can fill in the gaps," Hetty said. "Shortly after your meeting, Mr. Callen, Irina called me. She had been getting suspicious about some activities around the apartment. Cars constantly parked in the front of the house, people apparently following her. We looked into it and determined that it was, most likely the Comescus. No, I do not believe they followed you, Mr. Callen," Hetty said kindly when she saw Callen start to speak. "I just think they were that good and that determined to find the entire Callen family."

"Irina needed to disappear She had been seeing a man on Long Island and was now engaged to him."

"Tony Senior," Lily gasped.

Callen looked at her inquisitively and she broke into her first smile in a while. "I think you know Tony DiNozzo, don't you Callen? He's my stepbrother. My mom was married to Tony Senior for about seven years."

"In any case," Hetty continued. "Agent Tomoshenko and Irina moved out shortly after you had left for Russia, Mr. Callen. The accident was staged with fairly standard CIA stagecraft. I swear to you that the intent was to tell you when you returned from your assignment, but the individual in charge of this program moved on to another position and this piece fell through the cracks. I must admit that even I forgot about it until very recently when I had Miss Jones search our database for a potential genetic match." Hetty took a deep breath. "I know apologizing will not rewind the clock or repair the damage, but I am truly sorry."

There was silence in the room for several moments and was finally broken by the buzzing of a cell phone. Lily reached into her pocket and stared at the screen. She scrolled through the message, her lips getting tighter. When she looked up, she asked, "What has happened to the Comescu family?"

"The head of the family, Alexa, was killed about four years ago after she took Hetty hostage," Callen answered. "Without her, the cartel seemed to have disintegrated."

"Well, then we have a very large problem," Lily sighed heavily. "According to my informant in the Ukraine, the Comescu cartel has been reconstituted under the leadership of Sergei Comescu, Alexa's brother.

**No happy endings yet. What will the Comescu cartel do now that it has both the Callen siblings in its sights. I do hope that you do not mind that this was not an action chapter, but there were enough moving parts that a pause and explanation was in order. More action and some more whump to come (if you like that sort of thing :)). As always, your comments, thoughts and reviews are humbly welcomed and much appreciated. Thank you for taking the time with this story.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I am sorry that it has taken me so long to update this story. I hope that you enjoy it**

The room went entirely silent as the meaning of her words hit home. Lily took a deep breath and continued. "After everything that I'd heard about the Comescus and what Hetty told me about...," she closed her eyes briefly as if in pain and continued, "...about my family, I started digging into the Comescus. Apparently, the CIA has lots of intel on this family. There were red flags for a while now, but it wasn't until I had talked to Hetty that some of it started to make sense."

A clearing of the throat interrupted her. Lily looked up and met Tim's eyes. He raised his eyebrows when he saw her sitting on the bed, her hand in Callen's, but he said nothing. Instead, he walked up to Callen's bed and reached out to shake his hand. "We heard about what happened. Glad to see you are feeling better."

Callen had not missed the look between the younger agent and his sister and he understood exactly what it meant. It appeared that there were more things which he should be discussing with Lily. "I am, thanks to Lily," he said with a warm look at her.

"Please continue, Miss Tomoshenko," Hetty said in effort to get them all back on track.

"Right. Sorry," Lily said sheepishly. "This morning, I started checking financials of various identified Comscu concerns and it appears that there has been a flow of funds to this Sergei. Conveniently, he lives here, in Los Angeles."

"Who is this Sergei, exactly," Hetty asked.

"That's what I had my contact in the Ukraine find out. Apparently, he's Alexa's younger brother," Lily said to a room shocked into silence. "As best as I can figure it, he is substantially younger than her. In fact, since their parents had died, she was more of a mother than a sister to him. Apparently, Alexa had him moved to the US to keep him safe." She favored Hetty with a sour smile, "Sounds familiar, doesn't it." Hetty met her eyes without flinching and Lily continued. "From what I could find, he lived a fairly normal life of a wealthy kid in LA; until very recently."

Lily felt the tension in the room increase. She hated to be the one to make it even worse – especially for her and Callen – but keeping it to herself wasn't going to help anybody. She took a deep breath and continued. "I know you all know way more about the Comescu's than you probably want. You know that they are Rom – gypsies." Heads nodded. "What my contact told me is that they belong to a very specific, very ancient tradition that is...," Lily searched for the right word, "...particular. The way that it was explained to me is that the leadership passes through the direct bloodline; from parent to the oldest child. If that child has his own family, it goes to the children, otherwise it passes to the next oldest sibling. If and only if a line dies out completely and there are no more children, will it be transferred to the nearest relative – a cousin or an uncle, for example. That's why it has to be Sergei, although there is an Uncle, Anatoly, who I think is the real power behind this particular throne."

She looked at Callen, and her sadness was palpable. "Here is where it gets really bad," she said.

"So all this was just the good news?" Callen quipped, trying to lighten the mood and not succeeding.

Lily nodded. "Yeah. Compared to what else is particular about them. The only way to end the vendetta against our family is to either kill all the intended targets or for the Comescu line to be wiped out."

"So nothing was resolved with Alexa's death," Callen's voice was flat. "Either we have to kill Sergei…"

"…or Sergei Comescu kills both of us," Lily finished for him, her voice hollow and emotionless. Again she looked around the room. Everybody wore the same grim expression that she was sure she had. She met Tim's green eyes which were clouded with concern. She wondered if he realized that his hand was hovering around his holster – she could not help a slight smile – he was still trying to protect her. Sam looked like he was ready for a fight – the problem was that there was nobody to fight. Hetty looked both resigned and yet determined and for some reason that gave Lily hope.

"Are we too late to join the party," that was the blond cop, Meeks, as he and Kensi walked into Callen's room. His smile faded as soon as he looked around. "What did we miss?"

"The Comescu's are a threat again," said Hetty, somewhat rhetorically, both to summarize the situation and to bring Kensi and Deeks up to speed with a minimum of words.

Hetty was not one to wallow in anything even akin to despair. Once the initial shock subsided, she sought action. "Since there is a clear and present danger, so to speak, I believe that counter measures are in order," Hetty's voice was strong and stead a s she looked each member of her team, now including Tim and Lily, in the eyes, daring them to do other than respond as the consummate professionals that they all were.

"Mr. Callen, you and Miss Tomoshenko will have around the clock protection." She raised her hand to silence the twin protests from Lily and Callen. "And we will need to decide what is to be done about young Mr. Comescu."

Tim insisted on staying with Lily even though there were several armed agents outside her hospital room just as there were outside of Callen's.. "What are we supposed to do, Tim?" Lily asked. "We can't just kill him. Even the CIA frowns on assassinations. - especially of American citizens." She was sitting on the edge of her bed, feet tucked under her. Without her makeup and her hair in a ponytail, she looked young and vulnerable and Tim's heart twisted yet again with worry. He had almost lost her once, he could not...he would not lose her again.

Tim sat down next to Lily and put his arm around her, hoping that his proximity would soothe her. "You are still recovering from your surgery. You're exhausted and I am sure you still hurt. You need to rest. I don't know if things will look better in the morning, but you'll probably be able to think more clearly." He stood and pulled the covers of the bed down so she could climb in.

Lily sat, unmoving. "Tim," she finally said hating the tremor in her voice. "I'm scared.

The admission took Tim by surprise. He had never seen Lily be anything but strong and in control. A gentle smile crossed his face, "Scoot over," he said. Lily moved into the bed, Tim undid his holster and laying it within easy reach lay down on the bed with Lily taking her into his arms. He pretended to not notice her shaking as he whispered soothingly into her hair.

Lily awoke to the braying of sirens and the sounds of controlled chaos. She sat up in bed as Tim reached for his sidearm. A nurse opened the door. "There is a fire in one of the labs. Everybody needs to evacuate." She pushed in a wheelchair.

"I can walk," Lily said. She and the nurse locked eyes for a minute, but the nurse clearly had more to worry about than a stubborn, yet ambulatory patient. She shrugged.

"Please take the nearest stairs down and follow directions," as Lilly pulled on pants, a sweatshirt and shoes.

"Callen...," Lily started to say...

"Will be fine," Tim interrupted. "Sam is with him as are the other guards. I am sure the nurses have already evacuated him. Now lets go," he took Lily by the hand and let her to the nearest exit.

It was several hours while the firefighters put out the small blaze and did a walk through to ensure that it was safe for patients to return to their rooms. The fire had been small and although there were some chemicals in the labs, any damaging smoke and fumes were contained.

Lily had spent the time looking for Callen and the rest of the NCIS team, but although she could find no one, she was not particularly worried. The hospital was huge as was the evacuation area. She probably had not looked in the right place.

She was exhausted when she and Tim returned to her room, but when she saw who was waiting for her, her adrenaline surged and her heart jumped into her throat.

Sam was standing by the door, his arms crossed and his eyes slightly wild.

"He's gone," the former Seal said without a preamble. "They got Callen."

**Please let me know what you think. I appreciate all thoughts and recommendations. Thank you for your time to read this and I humbly and gratefully accept and appreciate any reviews.**


	9. Chapter 9

**It has been a very long time since this has been updated and I am sorry about that. **

"My brother," Lily whispered. "They have my brother." She tried to fight against the terror and despair that threatened to overwhelm her as the world started to contract to a small black spot. Lily pushed against the darkness knowing that she needed to think and not panic. Unfortunately, she was not successful and the next thing she remembered was sitting on the edge of the bed with Tim's arm around her. She took a deep, if shaky breath and pulled herself together. Callen did not need panic – he needed people to think rationally. "How?," she managed not to make it sound like a croak.

Sam took a breath and started pacing around the small room. "They had him in a wheelchair and were going to take him down the elevator. I was going to go with him, but there were a couple of gurneys, so they told me to get off. I told Callen that I would meet him downstairs, but when I got downstairs, he was not in the elevator. One of the nurses told me that he and his 'nurse,'" Sam used air quotes, "...that they got off on the second floor. I ran up there to look for him, but it was too late. The second floor has an exit ramp to the garage – they had a car waiting."

"I think its safe to say that this is the Comescu's work," Tim said, grimly. He had not released Lily's hand and she was grateful for the human contact.

Sam nodded.

"So when are we going in to get him out," Lily asked. Tim looked over at her and was shocked by the change. She was completely calm, but it was her eyes that truly caught his attention – they were as hard and cold as agates – he had never seen her like this before.

"The rest of the team is on the way," Sam said. "We will definitely be going to get Callen. The question is how."

* * *

They all gathered in Callen's room. Deeks, Kensie and Hetty were already there, along with another man whose natural expression seemed to be a scowl. "Lily," Hetty spoke up, "this is Director Granger."

Lily looked at the man and extended her hand, "Sit," she said. Granger shook her hand, his expression not changing.

Granger started. "The Comescu's have Callen. Obviously this will not stand and we will get him, the question is how."

The room was quiet for a while as they ran various scenarios through their heads. Armed assault? Probably not – Callen would be dead before the cleared the front door. Some type of covert operation? Possible – but since they did not know where Callen was, the danger to him was almost as great.

Lily listened quietly for a while and then she spoke up. "What they want are the last two remaining Callens," she said. Everybody stopped talking and listened. "They already have one one and now all the want is Sophia. What if we give them Sophia?"

"Keep talking," Granger said gruffly.

"Do you have somebody with a facility with computers?

"Oh yes," drawled Deeks. He grabbed his phone and dialed a number. "Nell. Eric. I got somebody who needs to talk to you." He put the phone on speaker and laid it in front of Lily.

"Nell? Eric? My name is Lily Tomoshenko...but it used to be Sophia Callen."

She heard a young woman's voice. "Thank you, Agent Tomoshenko for what you did for Callen."

Lily nodded, but batted it away. "I need your help and so does Callen. How long would it take you to create an identity? About five layers deep. It needs to be pretty convincing, but these people are not experts."

Silence as the two talked and then Nell spoke again, "About three hours for an identity so real you would swear you met and had dinner with. Who do we need to create."

"Sophia Callen. I need you to create the identity for me."

Another moment of silence, but this team was sharp and they caught on quickly.

"Ok." Lily heard the man speak up and assumed it was Eric, "tell us the details."

"Born?"

Hetty provided the date which was different to what Lily always considered to be her birthday.

With a nod of gratitude, Lily continued. "I am assuming that there is a Social Security number so lets just use that. Orphaned and adopted...," she paused, "...adopted as an infant by a couple from...," Lily thought, "...have them live somewhere in Virginia. A nice, small, inconsequential town." When Tim looked at her quizzically, she explained. "My accent is East Coast so it will be one thing I will not have to change."

"OK," Eric said over the sound of frantic typing.

"Local schooling. Give her transcripts from University of Virginia. Give her a job as...," a pause as Lily chewed her lip,"...a veterinary technician." This time all the team looked at her. "A kindergarten teacher seems so cliché," she said with a little laugh.

"Got it," Nell said. "Give us a couple of hours and Sophia Callen will be as real as you and me."

"As real as me," Lily echoed. All of a sudden, she was not really sure what 'real' meant.

* * *

There was nothing to do until Nell and Eric called or until the Comescu's called. The team stayed in Callen's room, drinking coffee, talking, checking phones and generally trying to not think about what was happening to Callen.

Lily must have drifted off because she was jolted awake by a cell phone. Deeks grabbed it, "Yah?" He listened for a few minutes. "I'm gonna put you on speaker." He laid the phone down. Lily sat up to listen.

"Agent Tomoshenko?"

"I'm here," Lily said.

"We are ready. Sophia Callen is officially a person."

Lily took a deep breath. "OK. Then all we need to do now is wait for the Comescu's to call."

"To that point," Nell continued. "We created a phone for you with a Virginia area code. It will ring on your current cell phone."

Lily smiled. "Nell. You are a treasure." She heard the woman laugh.

"Yes. I. Am. Thank you for noticing."

* * *

More waiting. Nobody wanted to leave to get food, and finally agreed to order pizza. Several boxes soon arrived and continued to sit on the table as nobody really wanted to eat. The time crept forward toward late afternoon. Lily was beginning to wonder if her theory had any merit at all. She was lost in thought when the rining of her phone made her cry out and actually jump.

She looked at the number, took a deep breath and picked up. "This is Sophia Callen."

The room was so quiet that they all could hear the speaker on the line.

"Miss Callen. This is Anatoly Comescu. I believe we have some things to discuss."

**We will get to more action shortly. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and that it is a good set up for what will happen next. Lily is really going to have to step up. I think that she is a great agent with experience under cover, but this is personal and that may color her view and impact her abilities. I would love to know what you all think of this story. I love and so appreciate reviews so thank you in advance for the time you take to read this story and tell me your thoughts.**


	10. Chapter 10

**As always seems to be the case nowdays - I apologize for the delay and the radio silence. This is a shorter chapter, but I promise more meatier chapters to come soon**

"Mr. Comescu?," Lily's voice was tremulous and unsure and she made sure to slightly struggle with the foreign name. Tim looked at the woman and he could have sworn that she physically changed from the self-assured agent, to a frightened small-town girl. Lily paused to listen, her face focused and her eyes intent. Taking a deep breath she spoke again. "I really don't know what's happening. I was asked by some people to come here as a marrow donor for a man who is supposedly related to me….," a false sob. "Please excuse me, this is all so confusing and so new." Tim again saw her body almost contract in on itself.

"No. I don't know this man – before this week, I'd never seen him before. But I couldn't let him die, so I came to see if I could help." Another pause as Lily listened again, her eyes growing bleak. "Please. I don't know about any debt. I just came here to help save his life. Please….just let him go. I don't want to be in the middle of this." The people in the room could hear the man on the other side of the phone begin to yell although they could not understand.

"Please," Lily's voice pleaded and Tim was not sure any longer if she was acting. "I don't understand. I don't know what you want me to do….," a long pause. "No!," that word rand out loudly and caused everybody to stare. "Please don't hurt him. Please…he's been through so much already." Tim saw Hetty raise her eyebrows while Sam's scowl blackened.

A deep breath. "Ok. If it will help him. I'll meet with you.," A pause as Lily grabbed a piece of paper and pen and hastily scribbled. "OK. I understand." Clearly Comescu had hung up first. Lily stood there for a few more moments, clutching the phone, her eyes far away.

"Lily," Sam asked as gently as he could. "Are you OK. What's going on?"

Sam's voice recalled Lily from wherever her mind was wondering. She took a long, shuddering breath. "Its everything we were afraid off," she said simply. "Anatoly is in charge – the man behind the throne and he has Callen. They will kill him unless Sophia meets with them."

"They just want both of you together, to finish the job. To finish the Vendetta," Tim said, fear and concern adding sharpness to his voice.

Lily nodded. "They want to meet tomorrow," she indicated the piece of paper. "Information is there….No policy or anybody else…or they'll kill him outright." She buried her face in her hands for a moment. Tim resisted the urge to run to her, giving her the time to pull herself together. In moment, Lily raised her face, pulled her fingers through her hair and looked around the room again, her eyes and face again calm. "So now what?"

* * *

There was a general commotion as the team all spoke at once. Hetty permitted this to go on for a minute, and then spoke up, her quiet, authoritative voice cutting through the conversations like a knife.

"We will not let Mr. Callen down. We will rescue him," a pause. "Right now we need ideas."

What followed was a cacophony of brainstorming. Deeks suggested going in as a team to get Callen, and Sam suggested him alone sneaking into the compound to extract Callen. These and the other suggestions received a hearing, but none of them withstood reasoned consideration.

Lily watched and listened, but she was growing restive. None of the solutions could guarantee that Callen would get out of the situation alive.

"I'll go," she said. Then louder. "I'll go in."

That proclamation was met with silence and everybody staring at her. Lily felt herself blush, but went on. "I'll go in as Sophia Callen. They are most likely to put Callen and me together…to watch us together before they….," Lily took a deep breath, "before they complete the vendetta."

She made eye contact with Hetty, pleading silently for her support. "You'll know then where they are holding Callen and you'll be able to go in after both of us."

"How are you going to sneak a weapon in," Sam asked, all business.

"I'm not going to," Lily replied simply. "There is no way that they will not search me and our best advantage is them thinking that I am helpless and clueless. Anything we can do to ensure that they underestimate me."

"So you'll go in unarmed. And then what?," Sam pressed. Lily knew that he was not being belligerent. He, of all people wanted this work, but he was asking fair questions that deserved real answers.

"I'll just have to get one once I'm inside," Lily said. Sam gave her a deep, searching look which she returned, but said nothing more. He understood what she was planning and as much as he may have wished it, he could find no alternative with a better chance of success than the plan that Lily had proposed.

Standing in the middle of the hospital room, the cell phone still clutched in her hand, Lily looked around. What she saw in their eyes confirmed what she already knew. For better or worse, she had won the argument and it would be up to her to rescue Callen.

**I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I know that it was shorter than the rest. This is a bit transitional and I promise more of the story soon**


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